Apparatus for making ice



Dec. 31, 1935. E BEMIS 1 2,025,711

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE Filed March 23, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Wlaa Z: Bemzls ATTORNEY Dec. 31, 1935.

w. E. BEMIS APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE Filed March 23, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l .l i I II Nnllllfitllllllillielii lllllilillillilrl I I!!! I I INVENTOR Wax/d0 536mm BY ATTORNEY Dec. 31', 1935.

3 Shets-Sheet 5 Filed Maroh 23, 1932 INVENTOR Walda Zfflemzlr ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 31, 1935 APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE Waldo Bemis, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application March 23,

11 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for making ice and has for an object the provision of a device for automatically making ice cubes in and delivering the same from automatic refrigerators.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device including a movable belt having compartments therein of any desired shape or form and means for automatically filling said compartments with water or other liquids, freezing and ejecting same.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device within a refrigerator adapted to automatically freeze liquids and to deliver the cubes outside of the refrigerator when a lever is actuated.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device within the evaporator shroud of a refrigerator for automatically freezing ice cubes therein and adapted to deliver said cubes outside of the shroud at the will of the user.

The present method of making ice cubes is, to

fill a tray having compartments therein with water, to place this tray in the compartment of an automatic refrigerator, to remove the tray' from the refrigerator after the cubes have been frozen, and to melt the cubes free from the tray by means of warmer water. One main objection to this method is that a whole tray of ice cubes is melted free although the user may wish to use only a small portion thereof.

This objection is overcome in a small degree by the use of a rubber tray or a rubber insert for the tray, but that does not keep the user from having to remove the-trays for filling and for obtaining ice cubes.

In the new and improved apparatus described herein the freezing compartments are automatically filled with liquid and ice cubes may be removed therefrom by merely turning a lever or hand wheel. The mechanism is very simple and consists mainly of a movable belt having compartments therein suitable for freezing ice cubes. This belt passes through a small water tank in which the water is kept at a predetermined level wherein the compartments are automatically filled. As the belt leaves the filling tank it passes through a fast freezing coil which may be connected to the refrigerating unit of the automatic refrigerator or which may form part of the evaporator thereof. The liquid is frozen into ice cubes during its transit through this fast freezing coil and when the operator desires ice cubes a lever or hand wheel advances the rubber belt forward over a crowned pulley and this crown dis- 1932, Serial N0. 600,640

torts the belt and loosens the ice cube from a compartment in the belt. This ice cube passes down an inclined plane to a suitable receptacle.

The invention is not limited to the freezing of ice cubes, as many otherkinds of liquids may be frozen therein, for example, sherbets and ice cream, etc.

The belts are made of rubber or any other suitable flexible material and the compartments therein may be formed in single rows or multiple rows of any desired shape, form or arrangement.

In the accompanying drawings an embodiment of the invention is shown and several modifications thereof are also illustrated.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an automatic refrigerator showing a preferred form of the invention in connection therewith;

Figure 2 is a perspective view enlarged and ex-- panded, showing the mechanism which is actuated by the hand lever for ejecting ice cubes when the hand lever is operated;

Figure 3 is a view of the mechanism shown in Figure 1, showing the passage of the belt through the water tank;

Figure 4 shows a modification of the water tank shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a top view of the pulley in the center of Figure 4, showing the arrangement of the rubber belt thereon;

Figure 6 is a normalelevation of a portion of the mechanism shown in Figure 2;

Figure 7.is an elevation, partly in section, of a modification of the device shown in Figure 1 in which the water tank is positioned below the device and the belt is operated vertically;

Figure 8 is a front elevation of the device shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a section of a rubber belt such as is used in the device having the compartments therein side by side; and

Figure 10 is a section along the line l0|0 showing an ice cube loosened by the distortion of the belt passing over the crowned pulley.

A flexible belt 20 of any suitable material such as rubber is provided and has a plurality of depressions or pockets 2| formed therein. These depressions may be,of any desired shape or form although in the drawings they are shown in cubical form. The belt 20 travels over two grooved pulleys 22 and 23.

The pulley 22 is located at the delivery end of the machine and it is heavily crowned at the bottom of the groove as shown in Figures 6 and a 10, the crown being indicated by the numeral 24.

The function of this crown will presently be described.

The pulley 23 is located and supported in a tank 25'. A toothed idling wheel 26 is also supported in the tank 25 and serves to change the direction of movement of the belt so that it can pass over the edge of the tank, down into the same and onto the under side of the pulley 23.

Water flows into the tank and is kept at a constant level, as indicated by the dotted line 21, by means of a float lever 28.

The teeth on the wheel 26, as the belt 20 passes thereover, engage the depressions in the belt and press the air'out of the same. As the teeth leave the depressions they are under water as shown in Figure 3 and water fills each depression as soon. as a tooth leaves the same.

As the pulley 23 progresses forward in the direction of the arrow, due to the movement of the pulley 22 which will be presently described, water remains in the depressions or pockets 2| in the belt 26 because they are below the surface 21 of the water.-

A second belt 29 preferably flat and of thin, resilient material is provided. This belt is carried by pulleys 30 and 3| and is in contact with the belt 20 from a point 32 below the surface 21 of the water to a point 33 at which last point the belt 20 has become level due to the fact it is substantially on the vertical center line of the pulley 23. The function of this belt 29 is to close the pockets 2| after they are filled with water and to keep them closed until they are level (at the point indicated at 33) where the water cannot spill out.

As the belt 2|] moves forward (to the left as viewed in Figures 1 and 3) it passes through a refrigerated chamber or coil 34 which may be operatively connected to the high side of a suitable refrigerating machine. One example of a high side is shown diagrammatically in Figure 3 where a prime mover 35 drives a compressor 36 whereby gaseous refrigerant from the coil 34 is compressed. The compressed gases pass into a condenser 31 where they are liquefied, a stream of air from the fan 38 being provided to facilitate the condensation. Liquid refrigerant-passes to the expansion valve 39 and is expanded into the coil 34. As the action of refrigerant in a refrigerating system is well known it will not herein be described.

Although a compression machine is given herein as an example, it is understood that any means may be used to refrigerate a portion of the belt 20 for freezing water in the pockets 2| without departing from the invention.

The water in the pockets 2| of the belt 26 in the area embraced by the coil 34 are, while within the confines of the coil, frozen intoice cubes. 7

As the portion of the belt 26 having frozen cubes in its pockets 2| passes over the Pulley 22 the belt is distorted by the crowned portion 24 of the pulley and the sides of the groove therein, thereby forcing the ice cubes out of the depressions or pockets 2|.

An embodiment of mechanism for advancing the belt and for obtaining. ice 'cubes, all of which is operable from outside of the refrigerator I9,

is shown in Figure 1; an enlarged perspective View of the same is shown in Figure 2; and a side elevation of a portion of this mechanism is shown in Figure 6.

A hand lever 40 on the outside of the cabinet I9 is rigidly secured to shaft 44 and has attached the pin 5| is thereby held stationary and the The shaft 44 has a bell crank 45 secured there- 6 toand when the lever 46 is moved to the left the shaft 44 is thereby rotated and at the same time the closure plate 43 uncovers the opening 4|. The motion of this shaft is transmitted via the bell crank 45 to a push rod .45 and the action 10 of the-push rod and other mechanism connected thereto will be presently described. The grooved pulley 22 is fixed on a shaft 65 which is provided with suitable bearings (not shown in Figure 2).

One toothed member 62 of a clutch-is secured 15 to the shaft 65 and a ratchet wheel 63 is also secured thereto. It sometimes may be desirable to make the clutch member 62 and the ratchet 63 in one piece. The other member 41 of the clutch journals on the shaft 65 as its teeth'50 go 20 in an opposite direction to the teeth of the member 62. A spring 66 concentric with the shaft 65 presses the member 41 away from the member 62. The face of the member 41 on the opposite side from the teeth 50 forms a cam 49. 25 A lever 52 carried on a vertical shaft 53 has an extension 5| engaging the cam 49. This extension 5| may be in the form of a stud or may carry a roller engaging the cam 49. The opposite end of the lever 52 is made in the form 30 of a yoke. A sleeve nut 56 has external pins, one of which is shown at 51 which extend through slots in the yoke. 55. Female threads in the sleeve nut 56 are engaged by the male thread 59 on the shaft 58. The lever 60 is fixed to the 35 shaft 58 and a downwardly projecting pin or finger 6| is provided near the extreme end thereof. The function of this finger 6| will be presently described.

The clutch member 41 has secured thereto or 40 made integral therewith a lever 48. This lever is connected in any suitable manner to the push rod 46 before mentioned and motion from the push rod 46 is thereby transmitted to the clutch member 41 causing the same to rotate to the left, 45

as viewed in Figure 2. In so rotating, the surface of the cam 49 working against the pin 5| causes the lever to move slightly in a counterclockwise direction. This moves the sleeve nut 56 to the left and via the threads causes the shaft 50 58 to rotate in a clockwise direction, and the lever 60 and its finger 6| move downward. If the water in the pocket of the belt immediately below the finger 6| has not been frozen, the finger will travel to the bottom of the pocket 55 thereby taking up the full motion of the mechanism, thereby preventing unfrozen water from spilling down the chute 42.

If the water in the pocket immediately below the finger 6| has been frozen into an ice cube, 60 the finger 6| is prevented from further travel downward by the presence of the ice cube and since the lever 60 and the shaft cannot further rotate, all motion of the lever 52 is stopped and action of the cam against the pin 5| causes the clutch member 41 to move along the shaft to the left against the pressure of the spring 66 and its teeth 59 engage the teeth of the other mem- 70 ber 62 and further motion of the lever 40 is thereby transmitted to the shaft 35 and the pulley 22, causing the belt 26 to move forward. The throw of the lever 4|] is so proportioned that the belt 20 is progressed forward the length 75 and the sides thereof distort the belt and push the ice cubes from the pockets 2|. Some idea of this distortion may be had by referring to Figure 10.

A pawl 64 engages the ratchet wheel 63 and thereby prevents the shaft 65 from rotating backwards.

To prevent the ice cubes from falling out before they near the chute 42, a suitable guide plate 81 is provided.

In some cases it is desirable to secure to the outside of the cabinet a receptacle 68 adapted to receive the ice cubes from the opening 4| of the chute 42 and for convenience in removing ice cubes therefrom the bottom of this receptacle may be provided with a trap door 69 which is adapted to open when engaged by the rim or a glass 10, for example, whereupon ice cubes will be precipitated into the glass. 4

In some cases it may be desirable to provide a spring 54 pressing against the lever 52 on the yoke side of its pivot 53 to facilitate the return of the threaded sleeve 56 along the thread 59 of the shaft 58.

Although no supports for the mechanism are shown in Figure 2, the view of the mechanism in Figure 6 shows suitable supports H and i2. 12 may be in some cases a portion of the evaporator shroud as shown in Figure 1; r

A modification of the belt arrangement in Figures 1 and 3 is shown in Figures 4 and 5 in which case the toothed idler wheel 26 is omitted, the tank 25a is made longer and shallower and a shaft 13 is provided with loose pulleys l4 and 15 adapted to freely rotate thereon in which case the portion of the belt 20 with pockets 2i therein upright passes over the pulley 15 to the left, as viewed in Figure 5. The portion of the belt with the pockets pointing downward pass to the right over the pulley 14. The pulley 23a is smaller in diameter than the pulley 23 previously described, and 'as a belt passing from the pulley 14 passes down into the tank 25a, the pockets therein become filled with water and leave the surface of the water substantiallylevel therewith so that there is no tendency for wa ter to spill from the pockets This is merely a variation of the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 3 and although the belt 29 is eliminated this arrangement does require a greater length between the pulleys 22 and 23.,

In the modification shown in Figures '7 and 8, ice cubes are delivered into a hopper 16 just outside of the evaporator shroud 12.

A flexible belt 20a is arranged to travel vertically over pulleys 11 and I8. Depressions or pockets I9 are so formed within the belt 20a that when filled with water it does not spill therefrom.

The pulley "l8 islocated in a tank which is provided with a float valve 8| for keeping wvater at a constant level 82 therein. As the belt passes down into the tank and around the pulley 18 the pockets I9 therein become filled with water and the pockets impressed by the coil 83 of the evaporator 84 freeze into ice cubes. A hand wheel 86 secured to the shaft 85 (upon which the pulley I1 is supported) is provided so that ice cubes may be removed from the mechanism.

When the hand wheel 86 is turned counterclockwise (in the direction of the arrow) the portion of the belt leaving the frozen coil 83,

passes on to the pulley l1 and is thereby distorted as previously described, whereupon the ice cubes are forced out of the depressions 19. When they pass the guide plate 61 they are free to fall into the hopper 16. In case'the hand 5 wheel 86 is turned, bringing pockets 19 of the belt 29a containing water that is not frozen,'up over the pulley, no harm is done as this water spills back into the tank 80. A door 81 is provided in the shroud 12 for access to the upper 10 end of the mechanism. Freezing trays 88 may also be provided for freezing additional ice cubes, desserts, etc., if desired.

A valve 90 shown in Figure l, is provided at the lowest point in the tank 25 and this valve 15 may be wsed for draining the tank and thereby getting rid of the water therein after cleaning the mechanism; or this valve 90 may be extended outside of the refrigerator casing l9 and may be .used to supply drinking water when desired. 20

Although several embodiments of this invention are shown and described herein in connection with a so-called automatic or household refrigerator, it is obvious that it has many uses other than the embodiments described above. 25

. Although the invention has been described as having a belt of flexible material having pockets of cubical form therein and in a single row, it is obvious that these flexible belts may be made up in multiple rows and the pockets there- 30 in may be made of various and sundry forms, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. a

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for freezing liquids, an inclined 35 discharge chute, a pulleyadjacent to said chute,

a tank containing liquid, a second pulley in said tank, a flexible belt having a plurality of pockets therein adapted to travel over said pulleys and so arranged that when it passes out of saidtank 40 over the upper face of said second pulley said pockets are full of liquidyand freezing means embracing a portion of said belt in which said pockets contain liquid.

lation to successive groups of said cups, and delivery means including said upper pulley for discharging frozen material from said cups and delivering the same'to a receptacleoutside said 55,

casing.

3. In a device for freezing liquids, two grooved pulleys located one above the other, a belt passing around said pulleys and adapted to pass verti-v cally from one pulley to the other, vertical pockets 50 in said belt, means for filling said pockets with liquid, means for freezing liquid in said pockets, and meansincluding the upper of said pulleys for ejecting frozen material from said pockets.

4. In a device for freezing liquids, an insulated 5 cabinet, an evaporator within the cabinet, av shroudsurrounding said evaporator, a flexible belt within the shroud having pockets formed integral therewith in which liquid may be frozen into ice cubes, means for passing said belt through 70 a tank within said cabinet thereby successively filling said pockets with liquid, andmeans for simultaneously ejecting an ice cube, from one pocket in said belt while a pocket at another point therein is being filled with liquid. 75

5. In a device of the character described, a flexible belt having pockets formed integral therewith, a liquid tank through which said belt is passed for filling said pockets with liquid, means 1 for freezing liquid in said pockets, means for prochute, a pulley adjacentto said chute, a tank containing liquid, a second pulley within said tank and partly submerged in said liquid, a flexible belt having a plurality of pockets integral therewith spanning said pulleys with the upper surface thereof in substantially a horizontal plane, a toothed wheel supported in one end of said tank for guiding said belt over the edge thereof, said teeth engaging said pockets and ejecting air therefrom above the surface of said liquid and becoming disengaged therefrom below the liquid to facilitate the filling thereof, a second belt adapted to contact with said first belt below the sur-- face of the liquid and adapted to become disengaged from said first belt when it reaches the horizontal plane, refrigerating means embracing a portion of said belt and adapted to freeze liquid in said pockets, and mechanism for advancing said belt over said first pulley thereby distorting the same and ejecting ice cubes therefrom and allowing them to fall into said chute.

7. In a device of the character described, an insulated casing containing a flexible belt having a plurality of open pockets, a plurality of pulleys associated with said belt, a tank containing liquid, means for filling said pockets with liquid within said tank, means for freezing liquid in said pockets, delivery means operable from the outside of said casingand including one of said pulleys for discharging frozen material from said pockets, and mechanism cooperating with one of said pockets adapted to disable said delivery means when the liquid in said last pocket is not frozen.

8. In a device of the character described, an insulated casing containing a flexible belt havcessively dip into said pockets and ladapted to enable said delivery means to operate only when its movement is limited by the presence of an ice cube in the pocket it engages. j

9. A device as claimed in claim 7, in which a receptacle for receiving ice cubes from the delivery means located outside the casing is provided with a trapdoor.

10..In a device of the character. described a cabinet containing a flexible belt supported on pulleys and having a plurality of pockets formed 20,

integral therewith, a liquid tank having at least one of said pulleys mounted therein and adapted to fill said pockets with liquid, means cooperating with a portion of said belt for freezing liquid in said pockets, a shaft supporting another of said pulleys for discharging frozen material from said pockets, and mechanism associated with said delivery means including an arm adapted to suecessively dip into said pockets and to connect said mechanism and said last pulley in driving relation to each other only when the movement of said arm is limited by the presence of an ice cube in the-pocket which it engages.

' 11. In a device of the character described, an insulated casing containing a series of cups linked together to form a belt, an upper and a lower grooved pulley supporting said belt, said lower pulley comprising a portion of a filling device for successively filling said cups with liquid to be frozen,

refrigerating means in heat exchange relation to 40- successive groups of said cups, and delivery means including said upper pulley for discharging frozen material from said cups and delivering the same via a chute to a receptacle outside said casing, said delivery means also including a lever outside of the 5 casing having associated therewith a closure plate for said chute.

WALDO E. BEMIS. 

